These easy fish tacos are perfect for a quick dinner!
Fish fillets are seasoned with a flavorful spice mixture and baked until the fish is tender and flaky.
Add your favorite toppings for a fresh and nourishing new favorite.
Ingredients for Fish Tacos
Fish: I love cod for fish tacos because it has a great texture and mild flavor. However, any white fish is great in this recipe-try tilapia, cod, halibut, or haddock.
Seasoning: The homemade spice rub is easy to make with spices you likely have on hand, like chili powder, cumin, paprika, and garlic powder. You can also use store-bought taco seasoning in place.
Tortillas: Use flour or corn tortillas and heat them gently to make them easy to fold without breaking.
How to Make Fish Tacos
- Prepare the fish: Pat fish dry and rub with homemade spice mixture.
- Bake: Bake the fish in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Prepare the toppings: While the fish cooks, chop and prepare desired taco toppings.
- Enjoy! Assemble and serve tacos once the fish and toppings are ready.
Seasoning Swaps
I prefer homemade seasoning, but you can also replace the homemade spice blend with a packet of taco seasoning or cajun seasoning.
Favorite Fish Taco Toppings
A few fresh toppings will turn this into the best fish taco recipe.
- Fresh: Diced tomatoes, diced red onion, shredded lettuce, cabbage slaw, fresh cilantro
- Creamy: Cotija Cheese, avocado or guacamole, sour cream
- Flavorful: lime wedges, homemade salsa, jalapenos, radish, pico de gallo
Common choices for fish include white fish such as tilapia, cod, or haddock. These fish have a mild flavor. Cod is a favorite option because it’s a bit firmer and holds together well when cooked.
Serve these fish tacos with lots of fresh toppings so everyone can dress their own.
Keep the sides simple like corn salad or Mexican rice.
Fish tacos are best served freshly cooked. Prepare the fish 24 hours in advance and refrigerate before baking. Most of the toppings and sauce can be prepared up to 48 hours in advance and stored separately.
Fish tacos can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days in an airtight container. Reheat them in the oven, on the stovetop, or in an air fryer before serving. Reheat the fish in the oven before assembling the tacos.
More Favorite Taco Recipes
Did you enjoy these Fish Tacos? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Fish Tacos
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds cod fillets or tilapia,haddock, or halibut
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Seasoning Rub
- 1 tablespoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
Tacos
- 8 corn tortillas or flour tortillas, 6-inch
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1 lime wedged
Fish Taco Sauce (optional)
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- ½ lime juiced
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon sriracha or to taste
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 400°F.
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In a small bowl, combine all fish taco sauce ingredients and refrigerate until serving.
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In a small bowl, mix together the rub ingredients. Rub the mixture into the fish fillets.
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Dab the fish fillets dry with a paper towel and drizzle with olive oil. Rub the seasoning mix over all sides of the fish.
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Bake on a rimmed baking sheet for 12-15 minutes or until flaky and cooked.
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Heat tortillas according to package directions.
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Use a fork to break the fish into large chunks and divide it among the tortillas. Top with desired toppings and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Fish, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American, Mexican
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Delicious!!! Used leftover fried red fish.
Is it possible to use fried fish for this recipe?
Absolutely! That would be delicious in this recipe.
Hit the spot – deliiiiiish !
Delicious! Used cajun spice I had on hand. Made the sauce and Mango Salsa to accompany. Small salad on side. Perfect supper.
Will definitely make again. Thank you for your delicious recipes.
You’re welcome, Beth! So happy you are enjoying them. Mango Salsa is such a yummy choice to serve these with!
Super delicious
Definitely delicious. My whole family loved them. This is a keeper. We are adding it to the menu. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Could you substitute mahi mahi for the fish?
Hi Debra, we haven’t tried this recipe with Mahi Mahi but another reader has made it with good results.
Hello! Do you think you could substitute Greek Yogurt for the mayo? Not big mayonnaise fans in this house :)
We haven’t tried that substitution but another reader has and had great results! You will have to let us know how it turns out.
These tacos were excellent. We used cod because that’s what we had in the freezer. Only used the rub and the methodology. Had made chipotle salsa so used that and made cabbage slaw a little differently.
Years ago, I had fish tacos for the first time while vacationing in Virginia Beach. Your recipe is astoundingly delicious and matched the very dish I have been craving for a while. I used Basa and made my own spice mix and the sauce is oh so wonderful. Fabulous recipe!
So glad we could help with your craving, Jan!
I made this for supper for my family tonight. It was super fast, easy, and absolutely delicious. Thank you for the great recipe.
You’re welcome Annie! Glad you enjoyed it.
I made this tonight at the request of my son. I had a similar fish taco in Myrtle Beach two years ago and honestly, this recipe matched it to a tee! Wonderfully, delicious recipe and light!
My husband who is very picky loved this! Asked for it to be in the regular rotation. Thank you for posting delicious recipes like this one!
You’re welcome Rebecca! Love to hear when picky eaters enjoy the dishes!
Fantastic recipe!! I used cod fillets and my family enjoyed it immensely. Great summer meal.
We made this tonight just as written with one exception. I didn’t have Sriracha so I just used a hot sauce that we had in the pantry. The cabbage onion slaw is great too. Next time I will skip the slaw dressing and just double the fish sauce. This was a big hit with our friends. Thank you for this great recipe, as usual.
You’re welcome Kathy, thanks for sharing that idea!
I would like to try this recipe but we dont care for sriracha. What would you suggest for a substitution?
You could try your favorite hot sauce Michelle. Enjoy!
Hello Michelle,
We don’t care for Sriracha either. A product I’ve used a lot as a substitute is Sweet Red Chili sauce by Thai Kitchen.
You can find the Sweet Red Chili sauce by Thai Kitchen on Amazon!
I decided to try this recipe because past ones didn’t quite measure up. It was a hit! Even my son enjoyed it and will usually not eat fish.
A great recipe! We had it on a Friday during Lent. Our family devoured these. I would recommend you follow the entire recipe. We made it with flounder marinated in the curry, the Pico de gallo, and sauce. For our preference- next time I would make it with a little less cumin and a little more curry. …buy plenty of fresh limes,,, and make it spicey!
I give this a five stars because when my family and I made this taco dish, it was fantastic! I love how basic it is which makes it good and the choice of the fish was good.
My daughter (13 years old) who doesnt like fish LOVED this recipe!
That is awesome Diana! So happy she enjoyed it.